I've been diving back into a book I set aside a while back -- Where Stuff Comes From
- "Most [designers] tell [clients] of past success in developing profitable goods, Arizona AZ Ariz. , Kaufen clomid, sometimes involving vast profit. When they are given maximum responsibility and autonomy, comprar en línea clomid, Texas TX Tex. , designers argue, such outcomes are more likely" [page 28], Køb discount clomid. What I find heartening about this is that much of my recent work has gone against the idea of gaining maximum responsibility and autonomy, order cheap clomid online. Order clomid no rx, I've been wanting to open up the design process and get more non-designers involved. It can get more messy, clomid farmacia a buon mercato, Colorado CO Colo. , but the buy-in and momentum can become much stronger.
- "Rather than doing one thing really well, their special asset, billige clomid Apotheke, Order clomid online without prescription, designers often claim, is the capacity to combine across realms, where to buy cheap clomid. Buy clomid no rx, They describe themselves as 'problem solvers,' 'facilitators, köpa billiga clomid, Ordering clomid from canada, ' and 'generalists'" [page 30]. Molotch then connects this thought to some of Edward Debono's thoughts on lateral thinking, Alabama AL Ala. . Order cheap clomid online, I agree that some designers are possibly better practiced at this approach, but it's certainly not something exclusive to design.
- "Designers say they have the ability to make things cool. Clomid prescription, "Too get cool, designers use intuition (a trait they feel blessed to possess)..." [page 31], purchase clomid online. Cheap clomid online, Sadly, this is perhaps one of the worst reasons to work with a designer and one of the biggest abstractions of what design could add, Iowa IA , New Hampshire NH N.H. , yet it's probably one of the biggest motivators for people to work with designers. Take Steve Jobs who told Segway creator Dean Kamen to hire a design firm to redesign the Segway before its introduction: "There are design firms out there that could come up with things we've never thought of, Vermont VT Vt. , Köpa clomid online, " Jobs continued, "things that would make you shit in your pants."
- "...the referral system creates a category of design office, billige clomid apotek, one that goes on--and here I speculate--to provide a kind of stamp to a large range of products that have all been designed by the same office" [page 35]. Interesting how the supply of projects can define who you are as a firm. A good reason to occasionally say no to some projects.
- "Among designers, there is little ambiguity as to who should get the credit for a modern product. They should." [page 47]. Ha. Ego is a big part of thinking you can design something that others will want to use -- but this much ego?
But here's my favorite rationale for why design hasn't always gotten good funding and why Molotch sees how design is, but perhaps not what design could be:
"'Men eat before they reason,' Marx said--and that means well before they decorate."
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Thanks for bringing up this book; I am probably about as far as you are into it and although I was loving it I got distracted by many other books.
I saw Molotch speak last year – he didn’t talk about this at all but rather about some in-depth sociological/ethnographic work they had done in the subway system in New York. It was one of the best lectures I’d ever seen.
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“When they are given maximum responsibility and autonomy, designers argue, such outcomes are more likely…”
And does evidence actually bear this out? I think it’s one of the most unquestioned myths of design that’s almost certainly wrong.
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I think bringing the cool is one of the best things a good designer does. I’ve spent plenty of time working the business angle, the teamwork strategies, and all the other “design thinking” stuff–and I still think making things “cool” is of great value.
Designers have the unique ability to visualize an ideal state of things. Anyone can brainstorm, compromise, and prototype, but painting a picture of something truly beautiful is a special ability and should be cherished and valued.
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Thomas: You point brings up a couple of thoughts.
First, I think back to BusinessWeek’s article on Richard Sapper, which starts to unpack the risks of going with a rock-star lone-wolf designer and giving him/her great autonomy. The general assessment of the article is that it’s more risky than the team-approach, but could also have a bigger payoff:
Corporations have awoken to the importance of industrial design to their marketplace performance, yet there’s a heated debate over what’s the best approach. On one side are the iconic designers, whether old like Sapper or young like Yves Béhar of San Francisco’s Fuseproject, known for Birkenstock’s trendy Footprints line. They create products the way painters create art—using their individual taste, skill, and intuition. Apple Inc.’s (AAPL) CEO Steve Jobs and chief designer Jon Ive belong to this camp. The alternative tack, represented by firms such as Boston’s Continuum and Silicon Valley’s IDEO, is all about using teams of designers, engineers, business strategists, ethnographers, and human factors specialists to produce more predictable sales results.
Second, I’ve realized how rarely the design discipline reviews and tracks failures. We could learn plenty from looking at the most frequent causes of design products failures, but it’s something that gets swept under the rug so we can just concentration on the beautiful and successful outcomes.
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Bob: I’m absolutely with you about the ability of designers to visualize and give form to something when everyone else is just playing with PowerPoint bullets. I’d just rather we talk about a designer’s ability to give form to new alternatives rather than just chalk it up as “cool.”
Of course, I’ve heard good arguments the other way too: as soon as a client (any kind of buyer or investor) of design really understands what you do and how you do it, the magic goes away and the price he/she is willing to pay for the service starts to drop. But I think putting design behind a curtain like this is a recipe for a bad relationship.
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